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Double Bass DIY Double Bass

Salamenster

Salamenster

Apr 8, 2012
1,563
119
European Mainland
#1
DISCLAIMER: First, I come from electric bass. Second, I saw no luthier-forum in the DB-section so I posted it here. If it doesn't belong here please say so.


Two of my friends are street musicians and earn a lot of money doing so. One drummer is jamming on buckets/pans and the guitar/singer has an electric guitar.

Here street musicianship is legal, everywhere, IF unamplified. So there lies my problem: They asked me to join them, but a normal acoustic bass doesn't cut it.

Now I do have a fretless neck w/tuners, some flatwounds and a bridge laying around. So I was thinking about building a cheap body myself to make it into a 'workable' short-scale DB with enough unamplified volume to play along with them. It does NOT have to sound 'great', it just has to produce a note that can be heard, in an okay way.

So there's my question, can anyone point me into direction? So far I know that there's basically two things I need: A body with enough resonance and an endpin to play it upright.

But how big does that body have to be? Does it need to have a lot of surface or a lot of air volume inside to resonate? Does it need (f-)holes? And does glue do the trick or do I have to bolt everything together really tight?

I really hope some of you here can provide some information to get me going.

Thanks in advance! :D
 
#4
Why do you say the normal upright doesn't cut it? The creation in the video is indeed badass, but but don't forget that the upright has evolved over hundreds of years to be loud. What you describe would be unlikely to have near the volume of an upright. Of course, the way the bass is set up has an effect on the pizz volume, not to mention the technique. Modern jazz bassists mostly use amps so they don't need or want a setup which maximizes volume, but some do play unamplified. A bass can be plenty loud for street busking if you choose the right strings, bridge height, etc. I've seen bassists playing unamplified with big bands who could be heard perfectly well.
 
#5
I guess the OP meant an acoustic bass guitar, not an acoustic upright when talking about an acoustic bass (since he comes from the bass guitar).
The problem is, that bass guitar strings won't get a lot of volume and an acoustic bass guitar is no exception. The body is too small for low frequencies and the strings are made to be plugged with much less force than on a double bass.

The OP needs: a renonance body of some size close to the one of a double bass (preferebly with soundpost and bass bar installed), some kind of neck/fingerboard (could be flat for pizz only), a bridge, tuning mechanics (NOT from a bass guitar or guitar!) or pegs and some strings (could be nylon with a diameter of 1.5 to 3 or 4 mm). What's called a washtub bass if I remember correctly. Vibrating string length 80cm to about 1m.

Don't try to add a larger resonance chamber for your acoustic (or electric) bass guitar. You cannot get through with such a thing. Low frequencies need large resonance areas and chambers and a lot of energy put in in comparison to higher pitched instruments.
BTW, bowing the bass often gets the instrument much louder and was often used in open air folk music. But then you need a curved fingerboard and bridge and of course a bow and rosin. (So better get a cheap but useable laminated double bass for this kind of music. And a bass wheel or bass cart will help getting the instrument where you want to play and back.
 
#6
Yes, maybe he did mean acoustic bass guitar, not DB.

Washtub bass is something different. Those also can be quite loud, but rather limited musically.

Yes. A bridge and maybe soundpost. It's partly the downforce on the top created by the bridge height and neck angle on an upright which give it its power. Also, longer string length = bigger sound.
 
#7
It wouldn't be anything like a double bass, but if you're looking to build a loud, rough & ready bass instrument for street playing using an existing bass guitar neck, I'd try getting hold of an old bass drum or a large tom to build some sort of bass banjo.
 
#8
Banjo bass?
attachment.jpg

Still not utilizing the parts that you have but you sound handy and you probably know somebody with a drum...
 

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